Monster
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: One shot. When Merlin, Arthur and the Knights are caught by Morgana after getting ambushed while out on patrol, Merlin has to make a choice: Reveal his magic or watch those closest to him get destroyed. Character death. Magic reveal.
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin

 **Monster** **.**

Merlin was forced to his knees alongside Arthur and the Knights, Morgana stood before them with a wicked smirk on her face. And all Merlin could do was think to himself why couldn't it have been bandits? It was always bandits.

Morgana was saying something to Arthur, no doubt she was informing her beloved brother of everything she planned to do to him before she ended his life and took her rightful place upon the Throne of Camelot and returned magic to land, but Merlin couldn't focus on what she was saying.

A strange hissing noise was blocking out all other sounds around him and a sense of evil was making him feel sick and dizzy.

Suddenly Merlin's attention snaps to Morgana as she pulls out a box and the feeling Merlin was getting became stronger and the hissing ringing in his ears became even louder. There was something in that box and it was radiating evil.

Morgana began moving towards Gwaine and her intentions became clear.

She was going to most likely torture the Knights and make Arthur watch, but why? Morgan always seemed to take great pleasure in targeting Merlin. She knew Arthur saw Merlin as his best friend, even though he'd never admit it, so why was she starting with Gwaine?

She opened the box and Merlin caught sight of what was inside.

A Fomorroh.

She was going to make the Knights try and kill Arthur, knowing Arthur would either have to kill those closest to him in self-defence or be killed by those closest to him and Merlin couldn't and wouldn't let that happen.

"Unspanne þás mægþ," Merlin whispers and the handcuffs around his wrists click open.

Merlin gets to his feet and is silently thankful Morgana's men had left the room.

"Stop Morgana," Merlin orders, as Morgana goes to cut off one of the Fomorroh's heads.

Morgana spins towards Merlin and Merlin hears Arthur hiss out a demand along the lines of ' _what the hell do you think you are doing, Merlin?!_ ' But Merlin just ignores him.

Morgan smirks at him, "You can't stop me this time, Merlin."

"Oh, I know I can, Morgana," Merlin answers, his tone cold and emotionless and he threw up a hand sending Morgana flying backwards though the air with a flash of gold. _  
_

Ever since Merlin could remember, he had just wanted to be normal like everyone else. He hadn't waned magic and he had even tried to get rid of it many times before he had meet Will, who had found out about his magic and thought it was the most fantastic thing ever, but it had never worked. _  
_

Merlin was tired of hiding and standing by and doing nothing. He wasn't a servant, he was a Dragonlord. He wasn't an idiot, he was a sly and intelligent. He wasn't a coward, he was brave. And he was tired of pretending to be something he wasn't, he just couldn't feel comfortable hiding who he truly was. _  
_

Merlin couldn't bring himself to look at Arthur and the Knights. What would they think of him? He had just used magic, the very thing they hated most. Would they turn their backs on him? Would they try and kill him? Would Arthur sentence him to death? Would he burnt at the stake like so many other had before him? Or would he have his head cut off like Thomas Collins? _  
_

But most of all Merlin didn't want to see the fear in their eyes. He could still remember the fear in that women's eyes after she had seen the horse he had conjured from the smoke of a fire. Merlin didn't want to ever see fear like it again and especially not from those he was closest to.

They would no doubt think he was evil and he was anything but. Arthur believed all magic was evil. That those with magic only wanted to destroy and cause harm to those around them. But Merlin had never once used the Dark Arts of Magic. Yes, he had killed, but he did to save others. How was that any different to the Knights killing bandits with swords in order to protected people? _  
_

Now as he faces Morgan, who had recovered from his attack, he knew what his purpose was, what his magic had been given to him for and it wasn't to protect the Once and Future King like The Great Dragon had said, it was to stop the witch standing before him, who had twisted the ways of the Old Religion to do harm to others and to be use it her own selfish gain _  
_

That was not what magic was for and she had to be stopped. Darkness like hers had no place in the world and the Old Religion was crying out for her to stop, Merlin could hear it cries. He could hear the screams of all those Morgana had killed, innocents who had unwittingly stood in her way and those with magic who had refused to join her. Arthur may now believe him to be a monster, but he'd never be like Morgana. _  
_

She was like Uthur, only those without magic had no place in her world. She was a monster, not because she had magic, but because she would kill without mercy and kill innocents just like Uthur had. And she was getting stronger and stronger, she had to be stopped before she became unstoppable. _  
_

Would Arthur forgive him, when he found out about all he had done? Did his magic really make him that different to everyone else? Merlin knew even if he never lived to tell Arthur his story, Gaius would tell him. Would Arthur forgive him then? Would Merlin be forced from the Kingdom of Camelot, just like Uthur had forced his father to go on the run? Would he be hunted? _  
_

He never asked for magic, he'd been born with it. He never wanted to have a destiny, to have the weight of an entire kingdom resting on his shoulders. He was destined to return magic to land, to a land which killed his kind. It was a seemingly impossible task, yet he had burdened with it and as time had passed, he had accepted it… And he wouldn't give trying to make it happen until his last breath. _  
_

"You have magic!" Morgana seemed unsure how to react, much to Merlin's surprise.

"I was born with it," Merlin replies. _  
_

Morgana let out an enraged yell and sent a fire ball straight at Merlin, who simply raised his hand and caught it. He extinguished it with a wave of his other hand and Morgan stumbled backwards in fear.

"Emrys," She whispers, fear shinning clearly in her eyes. _  
_

Morgana seems to recover and throws up her hand, sending Merlin flying backwards into the wall behind him. Merlin slides down the wall and lands on his hands and knees. He turns his head and stares at Morgana, his flash gold and the window high in the wall behind Morgana shatters and a storm begins to form outside. _  
_

Merlin gets to his feet and begins walking towards Morgan, she throws spell after spell at him but none get close enough to harm him. Morgana may be growing in power everyday, but she would never be stronger than Merlin Emrys, the greatest sorcerer to ever live and will ever live. _  
_

A flash of lightening illuminates the stormy sky outside, sending shadows dancing around the room and making Merlin appear far more intimidating than he had ever looked before. His eyes were glowing the purest of gold and raw power seemed to radiate of him. Morgana took a step back as Merlin comes to a stop before her. She had been a fool to ever think she could have beaten the great and powerful Emrys. _  
_

Morgana moves back another couple of steps and raises her hand to cast another spell and Merlin's eyes flash. A bolt of lightening strikes Morgana, blasting her body to pieces. Merlin throws up his hand just in time to shield himself and he couldn't help but remember he had killed Nimueh in the exact same way.

And as the sky outside begins to clear, Merlin braces himself and turns to meet Arthur gaze.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed it. This was originally a song fic, but due to copyright issues, kindly pointed out by catspats31, I've had to change it. This story was inspired by the song Monster by Imagine Dragons and I've had this idea stuck in my head ever since I first heard the song and I thought it was high time I got around to writing it. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


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